thanks for posting jk. Yes it does seem they've not got the fluid right yet for the humid conditions. It was interesting what he said about the doubts he's had about himself in the past - quite honest that.One thing that gave me heart in the match [or the part I watched having chickened out during 2nd set and will watch rest that I recorded later] was his solid performance at the net.Does anyone know where we can find the on court post-match interview that people have mentioned?

Thanks bbh. Have now checked and I don't think so - just some comments about how honest he was, which was why I wanted to see it.Well if there's an injury that might explain the serve too though I didn't think his movement generally was that poor. There was no suggestion on Sky that there was an injury just the cramping problem. If it was the knee wouldn't he have some kind of taping on it?

A fair report. Despite his serve being awol for most of the match he still won fairly easily and played some blinding strokes. The conditions were difficult with the humidity and wind, also his opponent was playing very well. I notice that Fed didn't win as easily against Young , but he cruised through!! As far as I can see it depends on who you are as to the headlines of the report. Andy will improve on his serve percentage,better to build up to playing your best tennis at the end.

Andy struggled but Fed "sparkled". Match stats Andy 46 winners to 31 unforced errors. Fed 27 winners to 24 unforced errors. Andy just needs to get his first serve percentage up. It was a poor match to watch but a good match to win.

Andy struggled but Fed "sparkled". Match stats Andy 46 winners to 31 unforced errors. Fed 27 winners to 24 unforced errors. Andy just needs to get his first serve percentage up. It was a poor match to watch but a good match to win.

Ah well, Fed can sparkle all he likes for now, I don't care much, just as long as Andy gets through safely, and in one piece, and keeps a bit in the tank.

The interesting thing to me was that though Andy's FSP wasn't great, he was still able to raise his level when he needed to, like at Wimbledon and the Olympics, especially against Baghdatis. To my mind that is what the first round is for, get through as quickly as you can, without doing any more than you have to and without knackering yourself for later rounds. I know it was tougher than the score-line suggests, but at least it was straight sets. I would have been anxious for Andy if it had gone to a 4th, or God forbid, a 5th.

Looking back on it, I think it was just a tense start. Andy isn't daft, and I don't think he is immune to all the talk since the Olympics. He must know to a degree there will be expectation on him now, and more than that, I think he will expect a lot of himself now, though when hasn't he?

The good thing I think is that a lot of Andy's shot making was superb, really splendid at times. It suggests to me that his form is there, or therabouts, and will come.

It was interesting that Peter Fleming (I think) suggested that maybe Andy shouldn't have gone to Toronto. I take the point, but the trouble is I think he was in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I think Andy was trying to do the right thing, nothing wrong with that. It's a shame he didn't have time to really enjoy the win though.

I just think this one was a jittery start in tough conditions. A few things need to be looked at, the hydration for a start, but Andy is still there and I'm sure he will improve. That's the most important thing. Frankly, I don't want to tempt fate, but in the past I've seen Nadal play rotten opening rounds and then go on to win majors. It happens.

Andy struggled but Fed "sparkled". Match stats Andy 46 winners to 31 unforced errors. Fed 27 winners to 24 unforced errors. Andy just needs to get his first serve percentage up. It was a poor match to watch but a good match to win.

I agree, I find it interesting that, while playing in very difficult conditions against an opponent who was playing well, Andy lost only 7 games but is criticised by all and sundry for erratic play while Fed, playing in much easier conditions, lost 9 games to an out of form opponent, dropped serve - which he didn't do throughout the whole Cincy tournament - and yet he 'sparkled'. I watched the match all the way through and I didn't see a lot of 'sparkling' quite honestly.

It's also interesting to read the differing slants of the press. The UK press has him 'struggling' through while according to the US he 'eased' through.

Yes those different perspectives are interesting and I'm sure there is an element of double standards. But I think it was the dreadful serving which rather coloured perceptions - I have to admit they did mine so it did feel like something of a struggle to me. Haven't seen the fed match so can't comment on that.

Murray dominated the Boggo serve, which is why the scoreline was as one-sided as it was. He was poor on his own serve, but (despite being broken four times) he did battle through to hold more often than not. He also hit a lot of UFE's, which is perhaps why the performance seemed average, but he did in-fact hit nearly 50% more winners.

All in all his excellent returning outweighed his poor serving and his winners outnumbered his unforced errors. It wasn't close to his level in London but then it didn't need to be. He won in straight sets, although it was quite a long match (for three sets averaging 8 games a set) due to the long service games.

I'm not particularly worried. I'm sure Andy knows his serving needs to improve, and that's the only real worry. His groundstrokes were a bit erratic at times but for the most part they were excellent (46 winners!) and the drop shot really was exquisite. I recall him missing just one all match (that odd forehand drop shot near the start) from, what, 15 attempts? Another went a bit long but the rest were all executed almost perfectly. And the returning was brilliant, very deep, constantly getting him in the point if not winning it out right.

With Andy, when the serve isn't firing, he does tend to make more errors. I think it's just a confidence thing - if one's not firing it affects the other. When he's in the groove and it's all firing well he's unbeatable. Well, he was throughout the Olympics anyhow. I assume it's just the conditions, and particularly the wind.

Well he's certainly aware of the problem with the serve (how couldn't he be) and although I know he has said that Mr L discourages him from practising the serve during a tournament to reduce the strain on the shoulder, I imagine they'll be working on it today! I agree that, some uncharacteristic ues aside, the rest of his game was looking pretty good including some solid defence at the net.

Just caught the third set in the highlights from yesterday. Miles Maclagan and Andrew Castle also spoke about the match. I have to give credit, Andrew Castle was actually quite positive and upbeat about the way Andy played. The presenter called it an average performance, but Castle said it wasn't, it was a good performance from a world class player, or words to that effect. They talked about the things Andy was doing right, seeking to be aggressive and so on, the returns. Also highlighted that he got the job done in straights.

Andrew Castle implied that Andy's performance was made to sound worse than it was and that it was a good start. He also said that he feels Andy is 10% better now as a player than he was last year.